Lutein, a xanthophyll carotenoid abundant in marigold flowers (Tagetes spp.), is found in the form of ester derivatives of fatty acids. Herein we present an enzymatic approach for the regioselective synthesis of 3-O-acyl monoester lutein derivatives (β-ionone selectivity, up to 17:1), using a lipase (Novozyme 435, immobilized CALB), and vinyl carboxylates (vinyl propionate and stearate) as acyl donors. The regioselectivity arises from the highly stereoselective feature of CALB. This methodology addresses the long-standing problem of regioselective monoesterification of lutein, potentially enabling novel, semisynthetic routes to other monoester xanthophyll carotenoids.

叶黄素是一种富含脂肪酸的酯衍生物的形式，是一种富含万寿菊花的叶黄素类胡萝卜素（Tagetes spp。）。本文中，我们介绍了使用脂肪酶（Novozyme 435，固定的CALB）和羧酸乙烯酯（丙酸乙烯酯和丙酸乙烯酯）区域选择性合成3- O-酰基单酯叶黄素衍生物（β-紫罗兰酮选择性，高达17：1）的酶促方法。硬脂酸酯）作为酰基供体。区域选择性源自CALB的高度立体选择性。这种方法论解决了叶黄素区域选择性单酯化的长期存在的问题，这可能使与其他单酯叶黄素类胡萝卜素的新型半合成途径成为可能。